Track rail for a sunshade device

ABSTRACT

In a sunshade device, a track rail includes two rail halves connected to each other to confine a rail groove and extending along a length direction. Each rail half has a groove-confining part, and an abutment part connected to the groove-confining part. The abutment part of each rail half has an abutment surface to abut against the abutment surface of the other rail half, an outer surface opposite to the abutment surface, and at least one aligning hole extending through the abutment and outer surfaces. The aligning holes of the abutment parts serve to align the abutment parts during assembly of the rail halves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a sunshade device, more particularly to a trackrail for a sunshade device.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a vehicle sunshade device 2 disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 7,188,659 B2. The vehicle sunshade device 2 includes a track rail 1used to guide a sunshade cloth 21 to move to a scrolled position or astretched position. The track rail 1 includes first and second railparts 11, 12 that are formed by an extrusion process and that areinterlocked with each other to confine a rail groove 13. The first railpart 11 has a first groove-defining part 111, an inclined slot-definingpart 112, and a first wing 113. The inclined slot-defining part 112 hasan insert slot 114. The second rail part 12 has a second groove-definingpart 121 that cooperates with the first groove-defining part 111 todefine the rail groove 13, a second wing 122 projecting in a directionopposite to the first wing 113, and an insert tab 123 insertable intothe insert slot 114. The first and second rail parts 11 and 12 interlockwith each other when the insert tab 123 is inserted into the insert slot114.

Because the rail groove 13 is formed by the first and second rail parts11 and 12 through the insertion of the insert tab 123 into the insertslot 114, dimensional and positioning errors in processing the first andsecond rail parts 11, 12 can significantly affect accuracy of thedimension and shape of the rail groove 13, and hence operationalsmoothness of the sunshade cloth 21 guided by the rail groove 13. Inaddition, because the insert tab 123 is inserted into the insert slot114 in an inclined direction, different levels of insertion forces forthe insert tab 123 can vary the depth of the insert tab 123 in theinsert slot 114, which will affect the fit of the insert tab 123 and thelevel of precision of the rail groove 13. Therefore, accurate control isneeded to process and assemble the first and second rail parts 11, 12,which increases difficulties in the manufacture of the track rail 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a track rail for asunshade device, which can be fabricated easily and assembled firmly andquickly.

Accordingly, the present invention provide a track rail for a sunshadedevice, which comprises two rail halves that extend along a lengthdirection and that connect each other to confine a rail groove, each ofsaid rail halves having a groove-confining part extending in the lengthdirection, and an abutment part extending in the length direction. Theabutment part of each of the rail halves has an abutment surface to abutagainst the abutment surface of the other one of the rail halves, anouter surface opposite to the abutment surface, and at least onealigning hole extending through the abutment and outer surfaces. Thealigning holes of the abutment parts are used to align the abutmentparts during assembly of the rail halves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 shows a track rail in the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows a conventional vehicle sunshade device employing the trackrail of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a track rail according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the track rail of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the track rail of FIG. 3 mounted on a mold of an ultrasonicprocessing machine; and

FIG. 6 shows a track rail according to another preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, a track rail for a sunshade device (notshown) according to a preferred embodiment of the present inventionincludes two rail halves 3, which extend along a length direction of thetrack rail and which cooperate to confine a rail groove 4. The railhalves 3 are disposed symmetrically on two opposite sides of a plane ofsymmetry 5.

The rail groove 4 includes a rounded groove portion 41 that extends inthe length direction of the track rail and that is centered on the planeof symmetry 5, and a narrowed groove portion 42 that extends in thelength direction and that is narrower than the rounded groove portion41. The narrowed groove portion 42 has one end connected to the roundedgroove portion 41 and another end formed with an opening 421 extendingin the length direction oppositely of the rounded groove portion 41. Therail groove 4 further has closed and open ends that are opposite to eachother in the length direction of the track rail.

Each of the rail halves 3 has a groove-confining part 31 extending inthe length direction, an abutment part 32 extending in the lengthdirection and connected to the groove-confining part 31 in proximity tothe rounded groove portion 41, and a wing part 33 projecting from thegroove-confining part 31. The groove-confining part 31 has a concavedsurface 311 of substantially semi-circular in cross section to bound ahalf of the rounded groove portion 41, and a flat surface 312 connectedto the concaved surface 311 to bound a half of the narrowed grooveportion 42. The flat surfaces 312 of the rail halves 3 are spaced apartfrom the plane of symmetry 5. The concaved surfaces 311 of the railhalves 3 cooperatively bound the rounded groove portion 41. The flatsurfaces 312 of the rail halves 3 cooperatively bound the narrowedgroove portion 42.

The abutment part 32 of each rail half 3 has an abutment surface 321coinciding with the plane of symmetry 5, an outer surface 322 paralleland opposite to the abutment surface 321, and a plurality of aligningholes 323 extending through the abutment and outer surfaces 321, 322.The abutment surfaces 321 of the abutment parts 32 extend in the lengthdirection and abut against each other along the plane of symmetry 5. Theabutment parts 32 extend from the respective groove-confining parts 31oppositely of the narrowed groove portion 42. The aligning holes 323 areused for aligning the abutment parts 32 of the rail halves 3.

The wing parts 33 of the rail halves 3 project from the respectivegroove-confining parts 31 in proximity to the opening 421 of thenarrowed groove portion 42 and in opposite outward directions. The wingparts 33 are substantially perpendicular to the abutment surfaces 321 ofthe abutment parts 32.

The rail halves 3 may be fabricated by forming a plastic material, andmay be assembled together by mounting the rail halves 3 on a mold 6(FIG. 5) of an ultrasonic processing machine. The mold 6 has multiplepositioning pins 61 to be inserted into the aligning holes 323 of therail halves 3 and to position the rail halves 3 on the mold 6. Throughthe use of the positioning pins 61, the abutment parts 32 of the railhalves 3 can be aligned with each other and with the mold 6 and can bethermal-bonded to each other at accurate positions. Alternatively,fasteners, such as screws, may be attached to the aligning holes 323 toassemble the rail halves 3.

While the aligning holes 323 are aligned with each other in the abutmentparts 32 of the rail halves 3 in the embodiment as described above, theinvention should not be limited only to the embodiment. As shown in FIG.6, according to another embodiment of the present invention, thealigning holes 323 in the abutment part 32 of one of the rail halves 3may be staggered with respect to the aligning holes 323 in the otherrail half 3. The abutment part 32 of one of the rail halves 3 may belonger than the abutment part 32 of the other rail half 3. With thestaggered arrangement of the aligning holes 323, the rail halves 3 canalso be aligned with each other appropriately using the mold 6 forassembly of the rail halves 3 together.

The rail halves 3 according to the present invention can be assembledtogether accurately and conveniently by a bonding process. The railhalves 3 do not have any insertion connection part, which can lead tothe problem of dimensional and positional deviation of the rail grooveencountered in the prior art.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatis considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it isunderstood that this invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements includedwithin the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

1. A track rail for a sunshade cloth, comprising: two rail halves, whichextend along a length direction and which connect to each other toconfine a rail groove, each of said rail halves having agroove-confining part extending in said length direction, and anabutment part extending in said length direction, said abutment part ofeach of said rail halves having an abutment surface to abut against saidabutment surface of the other one of said rail halves, an outer surfaceopposite to said abutment surface, and at least one aligning holeextending through said abutment and outer surfaces, said aligning holesof said abutment parts being used to align said abutment parts duringassembly of said rail halves.
 2. The guide rail of claim 1, wherein saidrail groove includes a rounded groove portion extending in said lengthdirection, and a narrowed groove portion narrower than said roundedgroove portion and extending in said length direction, said narrowedgroove portion having one end connected to said rounded groove portionand another end formed with an opening opposite to said rounded grooveportion, said groove-confining parts of said rail halves having concavedsurfaces cooperatively bounding said rounded groove portion, and flatsurfaces cooperatively bounding said narrowed groove portion.
 3. Theguide rail of claim 2, wherein said rail halves are disposed on twoopposite sides of a plane of symmetry, said rounded groove portion andsaid narrowed groove portion being centered on the plane of symmetry,said abutment surfaces of said abutment parts substantially coincidingwith the plane of symmetry.
 4. The guide rail of claim 3, wherein saidrail halves further have wing parts that project outwardly andoppositely from respective said groove-confining parts in proximity tosaid opening of said narrowed groove portion, each of said wing partsprojecting in a direction substantially perpendicular to said abutmentsurfaces.
 5. The guide rail of claim 1, wherein said aligning holes insaid abutment parts are aligned with each other.
 6. The guide rail ofclaim 1, wherein said aligning holes in said abutment parts arestaggered with respect to each other.